The Key to Madness
by Dave Johnson -Dav Strife
Summary: Kingdom Hearts Xiaolin Showdown fic. Takes place during MASmaster's Kingdom Chronicles, read inside for full explanation. Dav Strife has been sent on a mission to obtain a sword but learns of that Sora the Keyblade master is in danger...


**Authors Notes: **Just to explain what this is all about. This takes place after Tsubasa: The Xiaolin Chronicles written by MAS and Dark. This relates to their new fic 'Kingdom Chronicles' which sees Ashura Dragoon of the Bailey Kingdom murdered by a figure with a key. Zen and Viper are on the trail of the murderer and have decided that Sora must have murdered him and so they are doing after him. Dav and Wakka are off to protect Sora from Zen and Viper and that happens in the coming chapters of the 'Kingdom Chronicles'. This this is basically a lead up to it. If you have not read either chronicles I can highly recommend them. Visit my user profile and under favourite authors Dark Lord Sigma and MASmaster's profile is there.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Xiaolin Showdown, Kingdom Hearts or any other part of this fic except the concept and Dav Strife. The other original characters belong to Dark and MAS respectively. The Portal Key idea is also theirs!

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**The Key to Madness**

**By Dav Strife**

"_Dav, I need a week off…"_

"_You do? We have just received a big job as well. How important is it?"_

"_Well, I've been investigating the portal keys in my spare time and it seems there is one in Hallow Bastion. However I think it is best I go alone because if we both go it may attract other unwanted attention"_

"_Right, but I don't see what this has got to do with you… Well, I can't stop anyway. Take Tidus with you just in case. If anyone is 'monitoring' us they will be likely watching me instead"_

"_Will you not need Tidus with you?" _

"_No, I'll be fine, I'll see if Wakka wants to come along instead. Its nothing too taxing I hope…"_

Dav Strife and his friend Wakka had left their island home to take up a mission for a mystery client. They were instructed to go to the world of Astanta and retrieve an item of power. This item was a gold sword with black markings running along the blade but what importance it had was not stated. The group had just landed their small gummi ship and activated its cloaking systems when Wakka immediately let out an impressed sigh at the scenery of the Xiaolin world.

"That old building is beautiful, ya?"

"Yeah, but we are not here for the scenery dude. We have to go in there and get the sword thing from the bowels of the temple"

"You sound as if you've been here before…"

"I have a while ago when I visited Zen and Zalak for some reason I can't remember. The temple has obviously been attacked and abandoned which makes it easier for us. Do you remember what I told you?"

"Umm… oh ya, don't interfere in the workings of any worlds we visit right?"

"Exactly, the only time we interfere is if our lives are at stake, alright?"

"Got it, brudda, relax I'm not stupid ya know.."

"I know, let's go then. With any luck we won't run into Chase Young's goons or the Dragons"

The two teenagers strolled over to the once proud entrance of the temple where stone had been shattered and broken in every conceivable way. The flowers in the flower beds ripped up and dead and doors hanging off their hinges with rust. Dav lead Wakka straight through the stone courtyard and into the central building which consisted of one room. The room itself was plain with only a black circle in the middle of the floor. Light shined into the room through holes in the roof where the slate had been blown away. Wakka looked around the room with a less than impressed expression while his partner was stood examining the circle on the floor. He brushed it lightly with his hand to feel for any grooves or secret switches but found nothing.

"There's nothing here Dav, let's move on ya"

"No, there is something. Every time the dragons scored a Shen Gong Wu they placed in their vault and this is the way in. I just don't have a clue how to get in… I think we may have a problem then…"

"…A Shen Gong what?"

"…Wu, I'll explain on the way to the drop off point"

"Err… Dav, why don't you just use your Keyblade to open the door thing?"

"…………"

"Heh, forgot did you?"

"Yeah, hold on then…"

Dav stood at his full height and raised his arm into air with his hand opened to face the roof. He closed his eyes momentarily in concentration to summon his legendary weapon. _The Keyblade of twilight, return to me_ Dav thought to himself as if speaking to the weapon directly. A dull grey enveloped Dav's hand as he opened his eyes and the weapon began to materialise into his empty hand. In a grey flash the magnificent weapon appeared in his raised arm and he gave a practise swing downwards with it to get a feel for the weapon he seldom used. Without saying anything Dav took a few steps back to get a good view of the black circle on the floor and pointed the tip of the weapon at its centre. A small ball of dull grey light gathered at the end of the blade and then dissipated in a flash. A small arc of the same coloured energy rose seemingly from the floor and a clicking sound echoed in the ruined room. The area inside the circle began to collapse on itself and formed a narrow staircase that lead down into a secret basement. Without wasting time Dav dismissed the Keyblade in the same fashion he summoned it and began to descend the stairs with one hand of the hilt of his ceremonial sword (Zantetsuken) just in case. Wakka filed down after Dav with his ball weapon gripped in his hands with the spikes retracted to prevent damage to himself. As they continued down the small set of stone steps they could see heavy stone drawers slotted into the wall at regular intervals. Out of curiosity Wakka pushed the centre of one drawer and it slid out slowly to reveal that is was empty. Frowning slightly he pushed it closed and repeated the same process twice more, both yielding the same results.

"I doubt there is anything left Wakka. They probably took all the items when they abandoned the temple"

"Then how do you know the sword thing is in here?"

"I don't, but its worth looking anyway. If not we shall have to search any other temples that exist on this world until we find it"

"I suppose so man but wouldn't that be interfering if we come across opposition?"

"We'll just have to make sure we don't then won't we?"

"Yuh, your right man"

They systematically searched every last drawer in the stone both sides of the stairs but came across nothing but dust and cobwebs. Dav, who was first down the stairs examined the wall that signalled that they had reached the end of the stair-room. He found a small inscription that he couldn't read by sight but could make the letters out by touching the letters and feeling the dips in the stone. _This is not the end of the road _it read simply that Dav read aloud to Wakka who scratched his chin in thought. After murmuring a few seconds he clicked his fingers loudly and shouted "Got it!" which echoed off the walls made it sound three times louder than it originally was.

"Ssshhh" Dav hissed at Wakka who grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, something that you would expect from Tidus usually. "Anyway, what have you got?"

"The riddle thing, its simple really. It means that there is another passage way somewhere down here…2"

"Well done" Dav drawled while rolling his eyes. "Look around you, the stairwell is barely big enough for us both to stand along side each other, if there is a door it must be small"

After a few moments from silent contemplation Wakka spoke up again. "Dav, try hitting the wall with something"

"Worth a try, okay backtrack a bit would you?" On Dav's request Wakka climbed up a few of the stairs to give Dav room. The young blonde managed to take his biggest weapon off his back and point it directly at the wall in question. With a grunt Dav thrust the sword out at the stone and to his surprise the apparently solid stone wall gave way and crumbled away around the tip of his hefty weapon. Manoeuvring the weapon back to its resting place he then stepped gingerly over the rubble of the false wall and continued down on. Another set of stairs that was even darker and narrower than the last set were all that greeted them. The stone walls at their sides now was a darker colour with mould growing over much of the wall. However the two ignored the decaying décor of the walls and went straight down hoping to find what they were looking for. After two minutes of brisk stair descending Wakka and Dav reached a heavy stone door that had a carving of a sword on its surface.

"You think this is it brudda?"

"Possibly… hopefully…"

Wakka slipped passed Dav and heaved the door open by pushing it with his shoulder. The door scraped against the floor as it was opened and it lead into a massive room built entirely of sand coloured rock on both walls and ceiling. Flame torches burned with an unnatural yellow flame for the length of the full room. At the far end of the room a huge statue was situated dressed in some kind of spiky stone battle armour. In the palms of its open hands a golden and black sword lay as if the statue was presenting it to them. As the two approached the giant statue they both began to get an uneasy feeling. A deep echoing voice boomed in both their minds as they looked at the statue cautiously. _For those who seek the golden sword of travel, A trial awaits for you to unravel. Defeat the weapons guardians who are long since dead, then you shall have the sword of legend if you use your head_.

"That was weird, huh?" Wakka questioned uneasily.

"Yes it was… I think we are about to find out what it was talking about"

"You mean that rumbling isn't just my imagination?"

"Afraid not"

The ground under their feet and through out the room shook violently as if something underneath had awakened, actually something indeed had. Several hands punched through the dirt and began to pull themselves free of their tomb. Two dozen skeletons armed with a variety of weapons freed themselves from the ground and stood around Dav and Wakka to surround them. Many of their faces were missing parts, jaw bones, craniums, ribs but still they stood to oppose those who seek their charge.

Dav slipped Zantetsuken from its sheath and pointed the weapon at the nearest enemy.

"Bring it, I was hoping this would happen. I hate them things go without a fight"

"Your mad, ya" Wakka offered as he held his ball near his chest ready to throw it at an enemy.

A8A

Ashura and Tidus meanwhile had taken the largest of their two gummi ships to Hallow Bastion where they stood at the main doors to the castle but they did not enter. Tidus had, despite Ashura's warnings come armed with two swords rather than his usual one. One was the Brotherhood that he carried everywhere but the second was a sea green coloured sword with glyphs running along the entire weapon, the Catadbolg. Ashura looked at his digital watch around his wrist that Dav bought him for the Christmas before and then looked at Tidus who seemed keen to try out his new weapon.

"So, where do we start big man?" Tidus asked while swinging Catadbolg.

"I say we try the basement first. I have travelled through the castle before and never come across anything like a portal key before. Maybe we should ask someone…"

"About what?" A new voice came from the walkway that lead to the castle.

"Squall, you're here!" Tidus chirped, still exited at having a new weapon.

"It Leo… you know what, never mind. What are you doing at the castle? Its closed to most people due to the Heartless"

"We are not most people Leon, anyway we're here to look for something"

"Look for what?" Cloud asked who had come with Leon.

"A key to power" Tidus replied bluntly.

"Dav has one, doesn't he?" Leon asked gloomily.

"No, that is a Keyblade. We are talking about simple objects that could indeed be a key, you can tell once you see it."

"I'm not sure about ever seeing one but there is a lot of objects in some kind of storeroom in the laboratory below the castle" Cloud offered quietly.

"How do we get there?" Ashura queried the blonde.

"By going down a lift that is powered by a motor inside the castle. The lift point is over there… but the power if off for some reason so the only other way to get there is to jump down… a long way down" Cloud informed the two.

"Then we jump. If this Key gets into the wrong hands things could really get complicated"

"Sephiroth is here in the Dark Depths and someone else came here a while ago and headed straight for the castle's living quarters where Ansem used to live"

"Who was this person!"

"He had sharp claws and teeth, which were bloodstained"

There was silence for a few seconds and then Ashura and Tidus looked at each other "Zalak!"

"Not him…" Leon murmured to himself.

"Is that bad?" Could asked clueless.

"Never mind him, we have to find the key more than ever" Ashura stated seriously.

"The Keyblade!" Yuffie yelled as she ran up to the group.

"What?"

"The old Keyblade Ansem made… its gone"

"He must have taken it. It's not our matter to deal with though. come Tidus, let us find that key"

"Okay"

Tidus and Ashura ran off toward the broken lift while Cloud, Yuffie and Leon discussed the stolen Keyblade.

A8A

"That was easy enough" Dav commented to Wakka who was finishing off his last opponent by driving his World Champion into a skeleton's skull.

"Yeah, let get the thing and get out of here Dav" Wakka suggested.

Dav walked up to the statue and grasped the sword by its hilt. As soon as he removed it from the statue's hand the entire room began to shake even more violently than before. Bits of dust and rock began to crumble away from the ceiling and the two warriors darted towards the staircase and ran up them as fast as they could. They reached the Shen Gong Wu vault/stair case just as rubble fell to block the entrance to the statue room. Dav and Wakka exited the vault and headed outside where the sun was still beating down on the landscape casting a warm glow over the world.

"Dav, there is somebody coming, I can hear them talking" Wakka informed Dav worriedly.

"Don't fret, take the sword and put it in the cloaked ship and wait there. I'll scout the area to make sure there is no one who would detect our lift off"

"Got ya"

Wakka ran into a clearing and just seemed to disappear into thin air as he entered the ramp of their ship. Dav meanwhile ducked behind a pile of rubble as two people wearing stealth suits approached but they knew he was there. This was confirmed as a large hunk of earth collided with his hiding place and destroyed his cover. Dav rolled out of the way of another earthen projectile and stood up to see the stealth suit clad figures advancing on him. He pulled the hood up on his jacket to cover his face and then raised his arm and extended his fingers and a small current of electricity danced in between his digits. The female of the attackers shot a bolt of fire at him but he simply ducked and then the current in his hand began to pulsate and grow in strength. Finally charged Dav yelled "Thundaga" loudly sending the now powerful current at his opponents. The larger figure stomped into the ground and a wall of earth pushed up and protected the figures from Dav's attack. As the earth shield collapsed from the attack the girl flipped backwards and launched two larger bolts of flame at Dav from her hands as she landed from the flip. Jumping in the air Dav leapt over the attack and launched a Graviga spell at the two. The dark bubble of magic pressed down onto the two and pinned them to the floor painfully, the pressure of the attack hurting them constantly as it pressed them into the ground. As the spell began to ware off Dav then stood un between the two and shouted "Freeze!". White energy swirled around the two warriors on the floor and formed the guise of a clock with roman numerals on its face. The hands of the two energy clocks span quickly at first but then slowed to a stop which caused the two stealth warriors to be suspended in time completely.

"Now, lets see who you are…" Dav whispered to the two figures and pulled the cloth covering the lower halves of their faces down and then removed their hoods. "Oh, hell, the dragons" Dav cursed as he summoned up more of his magical energies and dispelled the Stopga spell that was holding the two still and unmoving. The larger figure launched a slow and sluggish punch at Dav who jumped back and then removed his hood to show the dragons who we really was.

"You!" Kimiko shouted in surprise to Dav who grinned slightly.

"What's the big idea partner?" Clay said angrily to Dav.

"You attacked me actually" Dav responded defensively.

"You was in the temple grounds, why?" Kimiko asked suspiciously.

"Looking for something if you must know. Why are you back here anyway? I thought the temple was abandoned…?"

"Looking for Zen, he's gone missing again"

"Not only him but his varmint brother has vanished too, you know anything partner?"

"Nothing at all, sorry. I did hear though that the guy Zen travelled with a while back was murdered… by a guy with a key"

"That's awful! Wait, don't you have a key thing?"

"Yeah, but I was with Zen at the time. Oh no, Sora might be in danger…" Dav gasped suddenly.

"What?" Clay questioned in a confused tone.

"Nothing, I've gotta go now!"

Dav ran for the ship without saying another word to the dragons. The ship raised into the air and disappeared into the atmosphere of the world. Dav sat in the pilot seat with a worried expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" Wakka asked

"Sora may be in danger… from Zen and that thief thing we met during the Inter Dimensional Tournament"


End file.
